Sometimes I get about without a camera on me. Luckily the Blackberry is handy. I wouldn’t say that it takes good pictures, but it is always there for when something fun happens. Also, with Mitchell’s arrival, Lena still deserves some of the limelight…
Lena loves merry go rounds…
At least the aussies won something this summer
For some reason goats turned up in the Maidenhead high st
We’d like to introduce you all to our new son, Mitchell Robert. He was born in the afternoon of 6th August 2009, weighing in at a massive 4.5kg and 59cm tall already.
The latest harvest – foreshadowing a new harvest of another kind
I ran into Gok Wan today at Oxford Circus. He is of course famous for making women look good naked! He kindly posed for a photo. EDIT: Gok didn’t introduce his friend at the time but a reliable source tells me it is Ruby Wax.
Enjoying a coffee
We both had a quick coffee and shared stories and he pointed out some funky shoes which I ended up buying.
Some light construction work has been going on at the holmesmacleod household. We’ve laid down the new floors (without worrying about the underfloor heating) and as you can see in this picture, Lena enjoyed putting in a helping hand. Most of the work was Greg and his dad Brian. We had a friend (Lewis) drop by to give some handy hints and lend some tools at the start.
No daddy, do it like this!
A lot of work took place fixing the subfloor until it was slightly flatter than before. Then we put down a layer of blue foamy underlay.
Finally we topped it off with our Rustic Oak boards. They are nice broad and long boards which fill out the house nicely, in the living and dining areas. Right now we are putting the edging and final touches in.
Who knows what the next project will be, but this one was a nice piece of fun!
We had a lovely easter in the sun, to celebrate the wedding of Dee and Martin, in the Munich Ratskeller. A Ratskeller is not a place where rodents dwell, rather the cellar below the Rathaus or town hall.
The wedding started with a drinks reception in the courtyard of the Rathaus, and then we went downstairs for the ceremony and then dinner.
Dee and Martin in cake form
The happy couple
The service and facilities were top notch, and it was great to see Dee and Martin marry.
Lena celebrated in style by driving her SLK Mercedes (ride on edition) around the restaurant.
Highlights for us were the well organised wedding – meant we could just have fun!
The food was good, and of course it was great to see everyone there too.
As part of my lazy updates to our family blog – Lena brought her little friend Alody up to the allotment (with a side trip to the park as well of course). Lena and Alody have lovely matching mauve jackets and every time they see each other it leads to a crazy squealing contest.
Last weekend I visited Bulgaria with my work mates and got to see a ski resort and country that I barely knew anything about outside of games of Diplomacy. Bulgaria is a former communist country bordered by Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and the Black Sea. We went to the resort of Pamporovo (Пампорово) near the Greek border, about 3-4 hours from Sofia where we flew in. My colleague Peter owns an apartment that has recently been built in the burgeoning resort.
As far as a countries go, I think Bulgaria has a long way to go. I could describe it as stepping into a time machine, but only partially, because you see loads of soviet style architecture, half finished houses and buildings. But there is also a mix of new developments, mansions, and some just plain odd looking stuff mixed in. Also the roads ranged from recently built to scary bumpy tracks that people overtake on in the middle while cars pass each side.
For skiing, the resort had a fair size, and on good days would have a nice assortment of runs, ranging from easy to nice fast black runs coming down the face of the mountain.
It was a fun trip of poker, snowboarding, pool and watching sport, and while I mightn’t go back soon, I would say it is an experience you will only understand if you go yourself.
On February 2 we had quite a snowfall in Cookham, with 3-4 inches on the ground in places and no sign of it letting up. I guess I don’t need to mention that the country ground to a halt. My train was cancelled so I decided to work from home, now that I’ve set up the computer desk nicely in the living room for the time being.
Lena and Andrea enjoyed the snow, going out in a break from the heavily falling flakes to construct a snowman, complete with carrot, scarf and woven hat. To be completely honest, Lena liked the look of the snow much more than being in it. She does like the snowman though and made sure that Andrea repaired him after her nap. It seems that the snowman wanted a nap too.
